The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) on Wednesday conducted a special screening for 176 exceptionally brilliant underage candidates who excelled in the 2025 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
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The exercise, aimed at assessing candidates below the age of 16 for possible admission into tertiary institutions for the 2025/2026 academic session, was held simultaneously in Abuja, Owerri, and Lagos.
At the Abuja screening centre, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, chairman of the exercise, expressed satisfaction with the smooth conduct of the process. He explained that the assessment involved a written test, followed by multiple evaluation stages, including face-to-face interviews with the candidates.
âThey wrote a paper that lasted about 20 minutes, after which the scripts were marked immediately before proceeding to the second and third stages, which culminated in personal interactions,â Adedoja, a former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, said. He added that 22 candidates were screened at the Abuja centre, with 176 assessed nationwide. The results will be released at the discretion of JAMB Registrar, Prof. Ishaq Oloyede.
Senator Mohammed Muntari Dandutse, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFund, who monitored the Abuja exercise, commended JAMB for providing a platform for talented underage candidates to demonstrate their academic potential.
âJAMB is giving these young talents an opportunity to show their capacity for higher learning. It is important that they are properly assessed in terms of maturity and readiness, because admitting unprepared underage students into universities would be counterproductive,â Dandutse said. The senator reaffirmed the National Assemblyâs support for President Bola Tinubuâs education reforms and praised JAMBâs consistency, transparency, and nationwide coordination.
Hon. Oboku Oforji, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Basic Examination Bodies, also lauded the performance of the underage candidates, describing it as a reflection of Nigeriaâs growing competitiveness in education.
âFor underage students to perform at such a high level shows the progress we are making in the education sector. We are proud of JAMB and encourage them to sustain this level of excellence,â Oforji stated.
At the Owerri centre, 38 out of 43 shortlisted candidates participated in the screening. Prof. Paulinus Okwelle, chairman of the centre and Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE), commended the candidates for their orderly conduct and assured that the process strictly adhered to JAMBâs guidelines. The candidates screened in Owerri were drawn from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.
According to JAMB, a total of 41,027 candidates applied under the âexceptionally brilliant underageâ category in the 2025 UTME. Of these, 599 scored 80 per cent and above, but some were later disqualified for not meeting the same standard in their O-Level or Post-UTME results, leaving 176 candidates for the final screening.
The screening panel comprised representatives from the Federal Ministry of Education, the National Universities Commission (NUC), vice chancellors, and education experts, including officials from the Gifted Education Programme.
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